Bite
by welcometothedarkcarnival413
Summary: Gamzee Makara is a newly hatched indigoblood in a world ruled by humans, a world where it's the lowbloods who're valued. What happens when he's purchased by a fighting pit owner a few sweeps later? Will Gamzee ever find a home? PBJ only if requested; Tavros will be human. Petstuck. I'll try to update as much as I can!
1. Birth

*tap*

*tap*

*skritch*

"Specimen C-413 is hatching, Doctor. I give it another five minutes at most."

"Good. I trust you can take care of it?"

"Of course, Doc."

All these things he heard as if underwater, not really understanding the unfamiliar language. It was nothing like the murmurings in Alternian he heard in the endless dream the grub floated in, but that was forgotten in a seconds as he followed instinct, scraping and pushing at the smooth white inside of his egg, watching as cracks formed in his home. Stabbing a leg through, he chirped, hoping to catch the Mother Grub's attention. Continuing his attempts to escape, tiny vestigial gills working while he tried to get out into the open air, he finally managed to break through, chirping a distress call loudly. The indigoblood's first memory was blinding white light as freezing cold air hit his ashen skin and carapace, letting out a distressed squeak as he pushed away pieces of shell before landing on the metal of the table, shaggy hair wet from the indigo fluid once in the now shattered egg. Coughing up a bit of embryonic fluid, he chirped loudly again, wide indigo orbs devoid of any of the gold or black an adult would have searching for the Mother Grub, a lusus, anything he could recognize. Instead he let out a indignant squeak when he was lifted roughly up by warm hands, a square of fabric rubbing him dry none to gently until the other alien tutted, putting his hand on the woman's wrist.

"Gently. We might be in a hurry, but he is still a newborn."

The grub looked up to find a disgusted frown on the woman's face as she replied with a "With all due respect he's a /troll/, sir, and an indigoblood at that. What do I care about some grub no one is going to want to buy?"

Looking back over to the man, he shivered slightly at the white hair, supernaturally green eyes, and blank expression he was greeted with, an ancestral memory of First Guardians coming to him.

"Trust me, Ms. Snowman, I know someone who'll purchase an indigo once he's old enough. Give it a few sweeps." the tall alien replied coolly, taking the grub from her too tight grasp and rubbing shaggy black curls dry himself before giving the tiny troll a once over, expression unreadable. "You'll be Gamzee. Unwieldy to call you C-413 all the time; and if you're good I'll give you a licorice Scottie. " he said quietly, a faint accent that would make any human listening think 'British' within seconds.

Gamzee squeaked, giving a wide grin that showed pearly white baby fangs as his one of his front legs waved at this alien, earlier fear forgotten at the small show of kindness. The faintest smile quirked at one corner of the 'Doctor''s mouth as he adjusted his grip, the grub now finding himself held close to the alien's chest, peeking over his shoulder to stare back at the woman, her own mouth curling into a sneer.

"I'll hand him off to Kurloz once I've got him registered. Try not to do anything rash." he said coolly, beginning to walk towards the door.

"You mean his brother? Won't he rip him apart?" Snowman asked skeptically, crossing her arms.

The doctor tutted, pausing for a moment. "He doesn't have a brother, he has a dancestor whose closely genetically related. And I believe I know what I'm doing." he replied before walking off through cold, sterile hallways with Gamzee still held close, the click of white wingtip shoes the only thing able to be heard. The troll squeaked periodically, trying to escape the gentle but firm grip so he could explore, eventually giving up in favor of staring at the green buttons on the Doctor's dress shirt under the white lab coat. Gamzee yawned, getting tired of all this white, but soon enough they stopped at a locked, steel door, the Doctor pulling open several latches after flipping a square open that revealed glass allowing you to see in. He couldn't quite get that high, so no matter how many times the grub pushed up in an attempt to look, all he saw was a glimpse of leaves. The door was pulled open, revealing a sudden drop off to keep anything from escaping that led to what looked like real outdoors, a place that made his memory scream Alternia, though he tensed up slightly at the unmistakable scent of another troll.


	2. Lusus

Looking over to the Doctor a bit worriedly, he gave a inquiring churr, getting nothing but a reassuring pat in return for his anxiousness as the sound of approaching pawsteps became audible, padding over the fallen, lilac leaves with a soft crackle as the other troll approached. Minutes later, a tall indigoblood who looked a lot like him, having near the same horns but far bigger, padded into view, stopping as he glared up at them, teeth bared in a silent growl behind his facepaint. Tail whipping back and forth behind him, he shifted on large dappled paws, arms crossed on a broad chest as the troll waited for something to happen, Gamzee all but seizing up at the scary sight. Before he could so much as make a distress cry in hopes of attracting someone willing to help him, the Doctor had knelt, pulling him off his shoulder and giving him a little push down the enbankment.

Squeaking loudly, he quickly hit the ground, shaking himself off before looking up to meet imposing indigo eyes the same shade as his own, staring up with a soft elder dropped down to a crouch to get a better look at the tiny grub, still not making a single sound as his feral expression softened very slightly, reaching out with one ashen hand and scooping Gamzee up with little effort, hindclaws digging into the dirt in the room like it was real life. The bigger troll's nose wrinkled slightly, testing the air before smiling faintly, snarl disappearing as he recognized the scent similar to his own. His eyes suddenly glowing purple, flashing slightly, Gamzee squeaked when suddenly a deep voice sounded in his head.

"So, you're a little motherfucking Makara too? Look at all these miracles just flooding the world up, huh?" spoke the voice, the tiny changes in the painted troll's expression informing the grub that this was indeed him talking. The slam of a door was audible, and Gamzee looked over to find Doctor gone and the steel door locked and closed once again.

"Name's Kurloz. Guess they're havin' me take care of you, little bro." came the voice once more, tone exasperated and mildly irritated by the thought. "A troll as a lusus; who'dve thought, huh? Not this here motherfucker, that's for sure and fucking certain." Kurloz groaned slightly,settling back so he was sitting on the ground, tail lashing as his paws curled slightly, examining the grub staring right back at him. Gamzee hesitated before offering him a crooked smile, waving as he'd done earlier and letting out a stream of curious squeaking, determined to find out what was going on here. Where was the Mother Grub? Why was his dancestor serving as lusus? None of it made sense to him, but apparently the grub's squeaking and chirping made even less sense to Kurloz as he dissolved into silent laughter, the only sound quiet gasping noises as his broad shoulders shook with mirth.

"Fraid I don't speak grub, lil bro." Kurloz chuckled lowly, rubbing behind one of Gamzee's goatesque ears and smiling at the purr he managed to get. "Well, if I'm raising you, looks like we'll have to motherfucking get our teach on. What'dya say, kid?" he questioned, standing up as he held the tiny descendant close, tail sweeping aside leaves as he looked around before trotting deeper into the blue trunked trees. Gamzee did his best to ignore the fact that he could see the building still around them in this room, trying to concentrate on the fact that this felt far more right than the rough cloth over his still soft indigo carapace, black legs digging into Kurloz's tough, ashen skin just slightly, not hard enough to really do much more than prick. "Good enough." the elder replied, moving deep into the 'forest'.


	3. Sold

-6 Sweeps Later-

"Yo, motherfucker, wake up!" Gamzee laughed loudly, running into the smaller clearing with the soft thump of dark, dappled paws before pouncing on the other, sleeping troll with a snigger. Kurloz of course almost instantly woke up, his muteness certainly not making him deaf,and flipped their positions with a playful growl, the two playfighting before the younger found he couldn't escape, laughing happily as he gasped out his surrender.

Far from their tense beginnings, the pair had grown quite close, and although Gamzee still wasn't entirely sure he understood what was going on in this facility, he'd adapted well to the weekly inspections. Why they were here instead of Alternia, he couldn't say, but it made sense to him the the human-aliens would want to make sure they were growing up properly, check fangs for damage, and occasionally separate the two every sweep when Kurloz's heat hit. He didn't get that either; his dancestor refused to explain that although he'd done his best informing Gamzee on every other point, having been born in these labs as well. But for now, the indigoblood was happy living in blissful ignorance, having learned both Alternian and English, he considered that enough education. He could hunt, Kurloz had taught him, and so what could possibly go wrong?

Both looked over in surprise when the door screeched open, the white-coated man back once more, although off schedule this time. The elder bared his fangs in a silent snarl, highly disliking the man Gamzee had learned was called Doc Scratch ever since a failed experiment had cost him his vocal chords.

"Gamzee, please come here." came the cool, British voice that silently commanded one to listen, and he struggled out from Kurloz's grip, trotting over to the enbankment with a goofy smile on his painted face, tail swaying lazily behind him as he put his hands on the mossy side.

"Sup, Doc?" he chirped brightly, gold and indigo eyes wide with interest.

"I have someone I'd like you to meet, alright?" the elder asked lightly, the faintest flicker of what Gamzee could have sworn was guilt crossing his odd green eyes for a split second. Without another word he knelt, holding out a hand for the troll to take.

Gamzee reached up, goatesque ears flicking up slightly when he heard the sound of Kurloz running over there with pounding pawsteps, a yelp slipping out when Scratch pulled him up fast onto the landing, moving backwards quickly to avoid the rage of the other indigoblood, who tried to claw his way up before without a sound Doc Scratch shut the door, locking it.

"Don't you sell him, Scratch, I'll cull you faster than you can blink if you come back without my descendant!" came the blasting mental wave as Kurloz attempted to scale the steep slope, failing miserably.

Wincing slightly at the volume, Gamzee looked up to the human, cocking his head confusedly as his tail flicked nervously behind him. "What's he mean, sell? What's sell?" he asked, not reassured by the warm hand around his own cold-blooded one when Scratch hesitated.

"Nothing you need to worry about. You'll be fine, Gamzee." the lab-coated man replied after a second, beginning to lead the shorter troll down the cold, sterile hallway, ignoring the faint expression of discomfort on the indigoblood as his pawpads made contact with the ice-cold tile.

Careful to keep his lion-like tail from dragging, he kept his hold on Doc Scratch's hand for the tiny bit of comfort it provided. After all, he'd never hurt Gamzee, and he'd been nothing but kind, if distant. What reason wouldn't he have to trust the human? So instead of demanding answers, he kept pace with the taller male, the only sound the soft pad of paws and the click of white, wingtip shoes, the creak of a door catching Gamzee's attention from trying to find a crack on the smooth floor and looking up to find them entering a place he'd never seen before, a sign nearby saying 'Crocker Corp. Lobby'. This meant nothing to him, but he took it to mean that this room was called a Lobby. Judging from the huge windows facing out, showing busy streets and rushing cars, it was an important room too.

Doc Scratch reached into one pocket, getting Gamzee to look at him once he'd pulled out a bright red collar, the Crocker trident serving as a clasp. "Don't take this off." he commanded, clipping it around the troll's neck before looking back out to the windows as the younger tugged at it slightly, an inquisitive frown on his face but not daring to question him.

A car pulled up on the sidewalk, a thin and angry looking man getting out and stalking over, tugging on the lapels of a dark green suit as his shaggy black hair stuck every which way. Gamzee was surprised to note that the two bright red circles painted on pale cheeks were the same color as the human's eyes when he walked inside, all but radiating irritation as he glared at first Doc Scratch and then the little troll standing besides him.

"So. That's the little shit. That you want to sell me." the man snapped, crossing his arms as he glared up at Scratch, the soft clink of metal as he tapped his foot alerting anyone with ears that he had a prosthetic leg.

"His name is Gamzee Makara, and yes, Caliborn. You said you wanted a new troll." the white-haired human replied coolly, tugging the younger back into view when he tried to surreptiously hide behind the elder.

Caliborn squinted at him, mouth twisting into a sneer. "Don't look like much. Does he. And Genesis Frog, he's a fucking clown?" he asked, gesturing to the paint adorning delicate, highblooded features. "I hate clowns."

"Just please pay up. And try not to kill him."

At that, Gamzee looked up at Doc Scratch with alarm, eyes wide as money was exchanged before the troll was given a little push forward, paws stumbling and nearly making him trip. Ignoring the resulting snigger from Caliborn, he desperately searched the doctor's face for any sign, even a tiny indication of what he'd done wrong to deserve this. He was met with nothing but blank white and green, not a single emotion present on the human's face. Before he could so much as open his mouth to ask what was going on, his wrist was grabbed in a too-strong grip, and Caliborn began to tug him back towards the car, meeting little resistance from the troll as he tried to register what was going on. Was this what Kurloz had been so worried about? It seemed that once again the mute Makara had been right.

After a twenty minute drive, Gamzee looked up when they stopped in front of what looked like an abandoned warehouse, trying to see past the anger on the human's face to understand why they were here. Instead he was jerked out of the car, pulled roughly inside as his heart nearly stopped at the sight of technicolor blood painting the walls, every hemospectric shade save Tyrian purple. "That's right. Soon your blood. Will join them. Because to be honest. I think I was ripped off with such a skinny troll." came the answering growl as he was pulled deeper, into a dank hallway before being shoved into a room that held naught but a cheap recupercoon and a load gaper stained yellow with age. "Get ready, kid. Fights start tomorrow." Caliborn smirked before slamming and locking the door behind him.


End file.
